Islamabad, Dec 14: Blaming the Musharraf regime for most of the problems in Pak-US ties, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said Pakistan will seek “surety and guarantees” for its sovereignty under new terms of engagement with the US during talks that would be held “very soon”.
“I need the surety and guarantees for the sovereignty of my country and such (NATO strike) unilateral actions should not be taken in future,” Gilani told a news conference after chairing a special meeting of the federal cabinet in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Gilani sought recommendations from the Foreign Office and the Parliamentary Committee on National Security for a revamp of ties with the US and NATO after the air strike on two Pakistani military border posts on November 26 that left 24 soldiers killed.
The attack took the already strained Pakistan-US relations for a spin.
The recommendations given by Pakistan's top envoys and the parliamentary panel will be debated by a joint session of both houses of parliament to frame new terms of engagement with the US, he said.
The whole country will back new terms of engagement that are evolved through collective wisdom, he added. Gilani contended that most of the problems in Pakistan-US ties were due to understandings forged by the previous military regime.
The last military regime was headed by former Pakistan Army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf.
However, Gilani said his government had decided to tell the US that “enough is enough” and that no compromise would be made on Pakistan's sovereignty.
“We are all upset now. When the talks start, then we will discuss these matters,” he said, referring to strains in ties with the US.
He said he expected that talks with the US would start “very soon”.
Gilani also ruled out the possibility of holding talks with militants who do not renounce violence. “Those who are not militants, we can have talks with them.
We will not talk with those who are militants,” he said. “The militants, according to tribal customs, should surrender in front of the political agent, they should denounce terrorism and extremism and decommission themselves.
“We'll then invite them to be in the mainstream and we would be ready to work with them,” he said. In response to a question, Gilani said Pakistan wants a peaceful, prosperous, independent, stable and sovereign Afghanistan.
“Others will come and go, we have to stay here and our borders are common.
“Both are victims and the terrorists are our common enemy. The new terms of engagement will help improve ties with Afghanistan,” he said.
Pakistan responded angrily to last month's air strike by closing all NATO supply routes and forcing the US to vacate Shamsi airbase, which was reportedly used by CIA-operated drones.
